Transfer RNAs (tRNA) are crucial adaptor molecules between messenger RNA (mRNA) and amino acids. Recent evidence in plants suggests that dicistronic tRNA-like structures also act as mobile signals for mRNA transcripts to move between distant tissues. Co-transcription is not a common feature in the plant nuclear genome and, in the few cases where polycistronic transcripts have been found, they include non-coding RNA species, such as small nucleolar RNAs and microRNAs. It is not known, however, the extent to which dicistronic transcripts of tRNA and mRNAs are expressed in field-grown plants, or the factors contributing to their expression. We analysed tRNA-mRNA dicistronic transcripts in the major horticultural crop grapevine (Vitis vinifera) using a novel pipeline developed to identify dicistronic transcripts from high-throughput RNA-sequencing data. We identified dicistronic tRNA-mRNA in leaf and berry samples from 22 commercial vineyards. Of the 124 tRNA genes that were expressed in both tissues, 18 tRNA were expressed forming part of 19 dicistronic tRNA-mRNAs. The presence and abundance of dicistronic molecules was tissue and geographic sub-region specific. In leaves, the expression patterns of dicistronic tRNA-mRNAs significantly correlated with tRNA expression, suggesting that their transcriptional regulation might be linked. We also found evidence of syntenic genomic arrangements of tRNAs and protein-coding genes between grapevine and Arabidopsis thaliana, and widespread prevalence of dicistronic tRNA-mRNA transcripts among vascular land plants but no evidence of these transcripts in non-vascular lineages. This suggests that the appearance of plant vasculature and tRNA-mRNA occurred concurrently during the evolution of land plants.Weeping Prunus mume (mei) has long been cultivated in East Asia for its specific ornamental value. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism of the weeping trait in mei, which limits molecular breeding for the improvement of weeping-type cultivars. Here, we quantified the weeping trait in mei using nested phenotyping of 214 accessions and 342 F1 hybrids. Two major associated loci were identified from the genome-wide association study (GWAS), which was conducted using 3,014,409 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from resequencing, and 8 QTLs and 55 epistatic loci were identified from QTL mapping using 7,545 specific lengths amplified fragment (SLAF) markers. Notably, an overlapping PmWEEP major QTL was fine mapped within a 0.29?Mb region on chromosome 7 (Pa7), and a core SNP locus closely associated with the weeping trait was screened and validated. Furthermore, a total of 22 genes in the PmWEEP QTL region were expressed in weeping or upright mei based on RNA-seq analysis. Among them, only a novel gene (Pm024213) containing a thioredoxin (Trx) domain was found to be close to the core SNP and specifically expressed in buds and branches of weeping mei. Co-expression analysis of Pm024213 showed that most of the related genes were involved in auxin and lignin biosynthesis. These findings provide insights into the regulatory mechanism of the weeping trait and effective molecular markers for molecular-assisted breeding in Prunus mume.Plant NDR1/HIN1-like (NHL) genes play an important role in triggering plant defenses in response to biotic stresses. In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification of the NHL genes in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and characterized the functional roles of these CaNHL genes in response to abiotic stresses and infection by different pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CaNHLs can be classified into five distinct subgroups, with each group containing generic and specific motifs. Regulatory element analysis showed that the majority of the promoter regions of the identified CaNHLs contain jasmonic acid (JA)-responsive and salicylic acid (SA)-responsive elements, and transcriptomic analysis revealed that CaNHL genes are expressed in all the examined tissues of pepper. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/catechin-hydrate.html The CaNHL1, CaNHL4, CaNHL6, CaNHL10, CaNHL11, and CaNHL12 genes were significantly upregulated under abiotic stress as well as in response to different pathogens, such as TMV, Phytophthora capsici and Pseudomonas syringae. In addition, we found that CaNHL4 localizes to the plasma membrane. CaNHL4-silenced pepper plants display significantly increased susceptibility to TMV, Phytophthora capsici and Pseudomonas syringae, exhibiting reduced expression of JA-related and SA-related genes and reduced ROS production. However, transient overexpression of CaNHL4 in pepper increases the expression of JA-related and SA-related genes, enhances the accumulation of ROS, and inhibits the infection of these three pathogens. Collectively, for the first time, we identified the NHL genes in pepper and demonstrated that CaNHL4 is involved in the production of ROS and that it also regulates the expression of JA-related and SA-related genes in response to different pathogens, suggesting that members of the CaNHL family play an essential role in the disease resistance of pepper.Polyploid plants often exhibit enhanced stress tolerance relative to their diploid counterparts, but the physiological and molecular mechanisms of this enhanced stress tolerance remain largely unknown. In this study, we showed that autotetraploid trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.) exhibited enhanced salt tolerance in comparison with diploid progenitors. Global transcriptome profiling of diploid and tetraploid plants with or without salt stress by RNA-seq revealed that the autotetraploids displayed specific enrichment of differentially expressed genes. Interestingly, the leaves and roots of tetraploids exhibited different expression patterns of a variety of upregulated genes. Genes related to plant hormone signal transduction were enriched in tetraploid leaves, whereas those associated with starch and sucrose metabolism and proline biosynthesis were enriched in roots. In addition, genes encoding different antioxidant enzymes were upregulated in the leaves (POD) and roots (APX) of tetraploids under salt stress. Consistently, the tetraploids accumulated higher levels of soluble sugars and proline but less ROS under salt stress compared to the diploids. Moreover, several genes encoding transcription factors were induced specifically or to higher levels in the tetraploids under salt stress. Collectively, this study demonstrates that the activation of various multifaceted defense systems in leaves and roots contributes to the enhanced salt tolerance of autotetraploids.